Okay, I need to do a post/rant breaking down some really cool #GameDev #Design and #Story decisions in #Deathloop.

Deathloop had a poor launch due to bugs, which really hurt it, which sucks, because the game in its current state is fantastic.

It's obvious, from the marketing and cover, that the main character, Colt, is a strong man of color. Which is cool enough. But many players may get through the entire game without even realizing he's also bisexual!

Arkane is known for layering in deep backstory into their games, and Deathloop is no exception.

So, let's look at the hints...

When you first enter the level with Frank Spicer, the ex-rock-star, you get messages from your past self telling you "he's not your friend" and "don't trust him".

Pretty innocuous so far, right? But as you get closer to Frank, holed up in his high-security rock club, you get more hints.

Next, you'll hear him talk over the radio about a "little ditty" he'd been working on, dedicated to a man he "looked up to, admired, and even loved", followed by "Damn, Colt". The ditty talks about "boys [he's] kissed" as well.

But the best clue is actually in the game's soundtrack!! The game has a bunch of great 60s-inspired songs that came from Frank's fictional rock band in the past. One of the ones you'll hear many times as you play the game is called "She's Got No Class". And this song is brilliant, on multiple levels.

On the base level, if you listen to the lyrics, the song is about Frank turning down a girl at a bar who asks him for a cigarette because "she's got no class; she's got no style". But in the last verse, "There's a navy boy, quiet in the corner" leads to "he's got some class, he's got some style, he's the one to spend the night." The main character, Colt, was the first to discover (and get stuck in) the game's titular time loop... during his time in the Navy. It's where he earned his "captain" moniker. He's the only (living) character in the game who was in the Navy. So, the game strongly implies that Colt is the one who the song was written about.

Then there's the final clue. When you go into Frank's penthouse to kill him, you can go to the upper level, where he has a big circular bed. Above it is floating text, written by the protagonist's past self, in big, capitalized, shaking letters, as if to yell: "YOU ARE NOT HIS TOY."

So, that would seem to imply that not only were Colt and Frank lovers, but that Frank took advantage of Colt's celebrity crush.

And all of this. All of it! Is hidden in the subtext.

But it gets better. Remember how I said that "She's Got No Class" worked on another level? In the game level where you're supposed to kill Frank, the (supposedly) only way to get into his rock club in the first place? Colt has to get a special pass latched around his wrist to get in. The name of that pass? A "Class Pass".

He Has Some Class, indeed.

Anyway, if you haven't played Deathloop, or you haven't played it since launch, give it a shot. They released a big update a couple months ago that made it even better and added some extra content.